1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the design and application of an improved self adjusting tidal mooring device and more specifically to the ability of the device to self adjust and compensate for the raising and lowering of general bodies of water in relation to the moored or docked watercraft.
2. Description of Prior Art
A multitude of ways are known in which watercraft are secured to their respective mooring platforms or docks in the attempt to compensate for tidal actions of specific bodies of water. Whether moored in true tidal areas such as the ocean, sea or tributaries or docked in waters that exhibit tidal actions dictated by wind and weather, such as rivers and lakes, there are many different methods and a few specific devices that attempt to absorb or compensate for this mass movement of water. One of the most prevalent actions taken in the attempt to compensate for tidal action is specific positioning of ropes or lines that secure the watercraft to the mooring platform. Those skilled in the art are familiar with the methods of how lines or ropes are positioned from dock to craft and crisscrossed from port to starboard or side to side and for and aft or front to back of the watercraft. This crisscross positioning of lines from dock to craft and vice versa allows the watercraft to raise and lower in relation to the stationary mooring platform and the tidal action of the water inside the criss-crossed lines. There are many problems associated with this method, one is the small slip or dock space wherein the craft has very little room to move forward and back or side to side. The lines have to be relatively tightly tied and in large tidal movement, the craft can actually run out of rope length and be either suspended or held down as the water rises. Also, multiple ropes crisscrossed for and aft and side to side create a web of ropes which can be confusing and dangerous for the crew or handlers in bad weather or extreme tidal movement. Alternatively, the use of numbers of ropes to compensate for tidal movement relies on the lines or ropes having slack or loose length, this slack line can actually lead to the craft springing against the ropes, generating momentum, back and forth as wind and waves drive the vessel against the lengths of these ropes. This motion is exacerbated by the very lines designed to compensate for craft movement. Tremendous force is exerted against the mooring points on the boat and dock as the craft springs back and forth. The improved self adjusting tidal mooring device eliminates slack lines thus reducing the forces that can be exerted on the tie up points and the lines themselves by elimination of this energy or momentum, produced by the spring of the lines.
The improved self adjusting tidal mooring device allows the watercraft to be securely tied to the mooring platform to lessen the chance of accidental contact with the dock. Another action or device is the use of a mooring whip, which is typically a flexible pole, shaft or spring that is attached at one end of the dock or mooring platform and the other end is bent down and secured to the watercraft's cleat or tie down. The pole or spring bends, up or down, to compensate for tidal movement. This device is more specifically designed to hold the watercraft away from the dock or mooring platform. This method requires that the user bend the unit to the craft, this creates a potential serious problem in the accidental release of the whip, which will very quickly release it's own stored energy. The mooring whip, as well as, ropes or lines themselves leave the watercraft vulnerable to waves, wakes, and unusually high or low tidal events. Whips and, springs particularly, are vulnerable because of their very nature. Cotton in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,361,716 and 5,425,324 shows us such typical spring type tensioners and the dangers of such devices are immediately evident. These units not only store potential dangerous energy but also require custom placement in relation to the vessel to be moored. The actions of wind and waves are much greater than the force of bend that one person could ever possibly exert to fasten the craft and resist potential tidal movement from forcing the vessel into the dock.
Many more elaborate sliding mechanisms from clamps to spring loaded cable devices, have been tried with greater and lesser degrees of success to compensate for tidal action. One thing remains constant and true, the strength and power of wind and water. Most known methods have been adequate at best even in normal, calm conditions. Clamping devices or devices that are tightly or physically attached to the boat or watercraft, such as those shown by Warwick in U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,283, Culp in U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,965, Jones in U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,946, and Wright in U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,991 have exhibited the same design flaws. The units provide vertical movement, but, so close to the mooring point that wind and/or waves cause the units to move up vertically and the watercraft can move in under the slide or up into the slide or pole creating potentially serious damage and at best, only cosmetic damage. Once again, the user must implement multiple methods to prevent potential harm. For example, the use of fenders or other methods to keep the craft away from the mooring platform negates the claims of no harm by both Warwick, Culp and the others. Also, Warwick, Culp and others utilize slides, springs and/or pulleys with complicated means and methods to achieve their vertical movement claimed, these components because of their own design, inherently require maintenance and, if, maintenance is not routinely carried out, potential failure would be imminent. The improved self adjusting tidal mooring device requires no maintenance and is self cleaning. The main flaw of most of these designs is their overall production costs prohibit their use as commercially viable methods. Not to mention the fact that cleaning the key components requires that the unit be completely disassembled. The improved self adjusting tidal mooring device provides simple and efficient means of vertical movement. Combine this with corrosion resistant materials and design of the exterior sliding mooring block to provide the boater with a mooring device that will stand up to the extreme environments of wind, water and waves. Many of the methods known are bulky and quite complicated, not to mention, not very aesthetically appealing. VanAsshe shows us in U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,356 one such quite complicated device, that requires many specific and exact locations of the shown device. This is not only known in VanAsshe's device but Culp and almost all of the others make this requirement also. Therefore, the device not only demands specific mounting points but requires modification of the craft itself This makes these devices specific not only to location but individual watercraft. The improved self adjusting tidal mooring device is very easily located and does not require any modification of the vessel in any way.
Daskalides in U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,628 and Shackelford,Jr. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,280 show us less complicated slide mechanisms that are less position specific but utilize typical square or rectangular slide design, which, is known to those skilled in the art, to present potential binding and seizing, by inherent design. Minor damage to the slide itself will advent in system failure. Also, all of the vertically sliding shown apparatus use internal sliding components more susceptible to binding and corrosion, inherent in the applications and enviroments these devices are intended.
The self adjusting tidal mooring device is located on the side of the dock or platform piling, not on the face of the pole as shown by many such as Warwick, Culp and others. This provides many advantages such as the use of the improved self adjusting tidal mooring device to be used in tight slips. Larger boats can use slips not ordinarily used because of the low profile of the device located out of the way, on the side of the pole not on the face or inside of the slip itself. The improved self adjusting tidal mooring device allows ropes and lines to be snugly tied with minimal slack line, substantially reducing roll and line shock generated by wind and waves. The vessel is allowed to ride the wave or wake and because of the snug lines reduces stress on, not only the craft's cleats but the mounting points of the device itself. One of the most unique points of the device is the simplicity of the design that actually provides greater tidal movement than the device's total length. As the vessel rises or lowers with tide or wave and reaches the top or bottom of the device's vertical limits, the lines or ropes provide the geometric equivalent of the long leg of a triangle. This design provides for tidal movement of five to six feet or more from a device length of 3 to 4 feet. Depending on the line or rope length, vertical travel can be more. The device's ability to stabilize wave and wake shock, by the slide design and the device's own weight, along with the short lengths of ropes or lines required to snugly tie the vessel, assures that the craft will stay right where the handler positions it in relation to the dock itself Also, exact position of the craft can be easily and efficiently changed. Major advantages of the device are that well known methods of handling the vessel and dock lines are still used and made more efficient. For example, fewer numbers of lines are required to secure the vessel position in the mooring slip. The mooring block on the device moves vertically absorbing wave and wake, thus reducing line stress on the mooring points on the vessel.
The mooring block also moves rotationally, up to 270 degrees or more, providing use by all craft, large or small, by the same unit in the same mooring space.
The improved self adjusting tidal mooring device's greatest strength is exhibited at the ends of the device's limits, where it is most needed in acute tidal movement or adverse weather.